Unexpected
by allycakes
Summary: To say that Katie Matlin and Clare Edwards had changed would be a vast understatement. To say that they had been through a lot in the past few months would be another...the world was a darker place than either of them liked to admit, but by some twist of fate they had each other.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi, though I totally wish I did.**

**This idea was requested by Madame Degrassi19820. Hopefully I did okay enough to make her happy. Honestly don't know how long this will be. Probably a two or three-shot depending on response. **

Saying that Katie Matlin and Clare Edwards had changed would be a vast understatement. Saying the two had been through a lot in the past few months would be another. They were no longer the two headstrong teenage girls that had butted heads over the school newspaper when they first met. They were still stubborn and passionate, but now they were young women. Life had swooped in some time ago with a taste of how cold it could be, taking away some of the innocence childhood held. Not all of it, but enough to change how they saw the world. The world was a darker place than either of them liked to admit, but that was okay. They each had family, loving boyfriends, and by some twist of fate, each other.

"Stupid Drew," Katie murmured under her breath.

Clare peeked over her magazine at the slight, red-head that was quickly and rather surprisingly becoming one of her best friends. Ever since the whole Asher fiasco Clare had found herself spending a lot of the free-time she had (that wasn't spent with Eli, Adam, and very rarely Ali) with Katie. Said girl was currently scribbling furiously in a well worn notebook that she carried with her at all times since she got out of rehab. Her therapist thought it was a good idea for her to get her feelings out on paper rather than acting on impulse. Apparently the night she busted up Bianca DeSousa's car she had forgotten her notebook at home. Clare raised an eyebrow at the thought and drew her eyes over to the door of The Dot when she heard someone come in.

Speak of the devil and he will appear to you.

Drew Torres was lumbering inside with his arm draped over Bianca's shoulder. Bianca shot Katie a smug smile before sauntering proudly by their table, and picking one right next to it. Clare narrowed her eyes in the couple's direction. Drew hung his head shamefully, but Bianca simply raised her eyebrows in defiance before planting a kiss on Drew's lips that was completely inappropriate for the public setting. Katie, who had been doing her best to ignore the two, tensed at the display, and Clare reached over to squeeze her hand reassuringly. She knew Katie wanted nothing to do with Drew since the night of the party at the Torres house, but she didn't know why. She hoped she didn't still have feelings for the oaf. As much as she liked Katie she couldn't stand the idea of Jake being hurt because the girl wasn't sure what she wanted. Katie looked down at their hands and blinked furiously to keep the tears in her eyes from spilling over.

"I slept with him," she whispered, "I gave him ev-everything. I tried…" she pinched the bridge of her nose with the hand not holding Clare's and took a shaky breath. "I tried to fix things with sex, and he still dumped me."

"Oh, Katie," Clare breathed, soothingly rubbing her thumb over the back of Katie's hand while she did her absolute best to shoot daggers out of her eyes at Drew. She knew he was a decent guy deep down, but the way he acted about girls sure as hell didn't show it. "He's an idiot."

"No, I'm the idiot, Clare," Katie said quietly and buried her face in her hands. "I slept with him, and I honestly thought it would change things between us. Every time I see them together I just have to relive how much of a moron I am." Her voice broke near the end of her sentence and Clare knew she had to get her out of there before she gave Bianca the satisfaction of seeing her cry. She gathered up both of their things and motioned for Katie to come along. She wrapped a comforting arm around her distressed friend and led her outside to the bench across from The Dot. It took all she had not to slam her shoulder into Drew as he passed them by with a coffee in hand, but she had more self-control than that so she settled for glowering at him. Katie allowed herself to be towed to the bench, and plopped down.

Clare kept her arm draped over Katie's shoulder and did her best to be helpful. "Katie, you weren't the one who messed up. You loved Drew and he took advantage of that. That isn't your fault." She ran a hand back and forward over her back and hugged her tighter. Katie simply shook her head.

"That's just the thing. I didn't love him. I thought I did, I really did, but now that I'm with Jake I realize just how wrong I was." She leaned up and winced at Clare. "Is this too awkward? We don't have to talk about this." She pulled away and wiped her cheeks with the sleeves of her jacket. Clare laughed quietly and shook her head.

"It's not awkward, Katie. You and I are friends. Jake and I are friends…er… step-siblings, whatever. I want the two of you to be happy, and I really don't mind talking to you about this. That's what friends are for, right?" She asked, a genuine smile playing on her full lips. Katie smiled back and sat up a bit straighter.

"I really care about him, you know?" She asked. Clare nodded and bumped her shoulder with her own.

"I know, and he really cares about you."

Katie nodded and looked up into the clear and sunny sky, pulling her light jacket a bit tighter around her. "Now that it's getting warmer we should plan a beach trip or something," she stated, almost managing to change the subject, but Clare was sharper than that. She could tell her friend was scared though she had no reason to be.

"Jake isn't going to do that to you, Katie."

For the second time that day Katie blinked back tears, "I know," she said, her voice so low Clare had to strain to hear it. "I know."

**Meh, I dunno how I feel about this. I may redo it. Lemme know what you think. **


End file.
